As mystery surrounds the alleged death of the Taliban commander, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, competing claims continue to emerge regarding the drone strike by the United States that supposedly killed him. The strike could not come at a worse time as Pakistan-US relations were already strained over the F-16 jets’ issue, and, more importantly, peace talks were being led by Pakistan with the Afghan Taliban under the Quadrilateral Coordination Group. In addition to dampening the attempts being made by Pakistan to secure lasting peace in Afghanistan, the drone strike would serve to bring back the old vitriol against United States in the minds of the Pakistani people, most of whom are already wary of what they consider as undue interference by the United States in Pakistan’s affairs. Naturally, cries of breach of sovereignty were heard loud and clear in Pakistan with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif criticising the strike and lodging strong protest with the US over it. While it is true that religious militancy in all its forms must be condemned by the people of Pakistan, unilateral decision by the United States to conduct drone strikes in Pakistani territory would only exacerbate the situation. The US has in the past conducted several drone strikes in Pakistan, and the general view has been that at some level there was an understanding between the two states regarding the strikes. However, except for four, all of these strikes have been in tribal agencies of Pakistan, a militant-infested area that has been for the most part forsaken by the state. This latest drone strike was near Pak-Afghan border in an area that constitutes Balochistan. Notwithstanding the double standard in this brazenly expedient notion, Pakistan considers this as crossing ‘red line’ by the US. Hence, this would only serve to exacerbate the already overwrought relationship between US and Pakistan. The drone strike also points to the gross asymmetry of power that continues to inform the Pakistan-US relationship. A statement released by the ministry of foreign affairs, Pakistan revealed that Prime Minister Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif were notified of the drone strike by the US on Sunday. This can hardly be categorised as the type of communication that takes place between sovereign countries, as it appears that the US did not even deem it fit to take Pakistan’s consent before launching the drone strike. In fact, this whole episode is eerily reminiscent of the raid in Abbottabad by the US forces in 2011, which resulted in the capture of the al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. While bin Laden was considered a global terrorist, a sentiment shared by many Pakistanis, it was the audaciousness of the attack within the borders of a sovereign state that became an issue of concern between Pakistan and the US. It is the same old story this time too as Pakistan was kept in the dark while the US unilaterally conducted the operation. Whether Mullah Mansur Akhtar is actually killed by the drone strike remains to be verified, but, regardless, the strike would derail the peace process between Afghanistan and Afghan Taliban that are being led by Pakistan. It is true that in this case things are extremely complicated as lasting peace in Afghanistan can only be secured if some sort of settlement is reached between Kabul and the Taliban; however, this should not be used as pretence in Pakistan to reopen the binaries of ‘good’ Taliban and ‘bad’ Taliban, which have informed the debate on religious militancy in Pakistan for much too long. It should be made clear that there is no room for religious extremists in Pakistan. And for that, all types of religious extremists must not be given any space to thrive in. Pakistan is rendering great sacrifices in its battle against extremism and for that to not be in vain, all those narratives that champion religious extremism must be vehemently opposed on all levels. *